Rattler goes heavy metal: What a surprise …

An artist's rendering of the proposed Iron Rattler. Note the first drop will go all the way to the quarry floor, like it did the first two years of the wooden Rattler. (Courtesy Six Flags Fiesta Texas)

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Six Flags Fiesta Texas yesterday announced that its plans for the Rattler were exactly what the coaster dude said they would be when Weekender Calendar Editor Stefanie (“Don’t Stonewall Me”) Arias interviewed him three weeks ago.

Namely, that the giant wooden roller coaster, the park’s signature attraction since it opened in 1993, would undergo a heavy-metal conversion similar to the Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. That wooden beast is now a hybrid, with a metal track allowing for greater speeds and a smoother ride.

Six Flags offcials wouldn’t confirm any of this when it anounced that the Rattler would close Aug. 5. But coaster expert Lance Hart (Screamscape.com), under intensive, relentless questioning from Arias, said he had heard that Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction Group, which had redone the Texas Giant, had a contract to turn the Rattler into the Iron Rattler. (Six Flags should really consider licensing Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” for its promotional campaign whenever the new coaster is ready — you know, thump, thump, thump, doomy chord, “I am IRRRONN RATTTLERRRRRRRRRR.”)

Based on the specs, the Iron Rattler will go beyond simply restoring its wooden predecessor to its bone-shaking, neck-snapping, whiplash-inducing, lawsuit-inspiring glory. That awe-inspiring first drop, which was reduced from 166 to 122 feet when the coaster was redone after the 1994 season, will now be a staggering, 170 feet — and 81 degrees. The speed will also increase from 65 to 70 mph; the original Rattler topped out at 73.

Faster, scarier and smoother, thanks to the metal rails. Sounds cool. So why couldn’t they confirm this four weeks ago?